| Provincial Assembly of the Punjab | |
|---|---|
| Legislature overview | |
| Jurisdiction | Punjab, Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Lahore |
| Website | |
| punjab.gov.pk | |
| Map | |
The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore in eastern Pakistan.[1] The Assembly was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan as having a total of 371 seats, with 66 seats reserved for women and eight reserved for non-Muslims.
The 2-story Assembly Chamber, residential hostels, and expansive lawns cover 16 acres (65,000 m2) on the Shahrah-e-Quaid-Azam (the Mall). After it was completed in 1935, the Assembly Chamber housed the Assembly for the Punjab province. After the division of Punjab and the emergence of Pakistan, the building became the administrative center of Pakistani Punjab.
Designed by Bazel M. Salune, chief architect of the Architecture Circle of Punjab, the foundation stone of the Assembly Chamber was laid by Sir Jogindar Singh, Minister of Agriculture, in November 1935 during the British Raj.
The first floor houses the Assembly Hall, which combines Indian and Roman architecture. Originally designed for a small number of members, it now accommodates 371 members. The hall is fitted with a public address system and a closed circuit television system. There was gallery seating for 200 visitors to view the proceedings of the Assembly, but now most of the gallery has been designated as floor of the house to accommodate the increased number of members, and accommodations for radio and TV press. The rest of the first floor consists of the Speaker's Chamber, the Chief Minister's Chamber, the Deputy Speaker's Office, the Cabinet Room, the Ministers' Offices, two committee rooms and the Assembly Secretariat offices.
The ground floor includes a reception area, a cafeteria, a library, a prayer room, a dispensary, the office of the leader of the opposition, the bank, the Assembly Secretariat offices, and one Committee room.
The members' first residential hostel, called Pipal's House, was built in 1950. It is situated near the Punjab Civil Secretariat, and contains 40 units. 2-story blocks form 3 sides of a common garden, with 6 units in each story. A fourth block houses the remaining four units.
Each residential unit consists of a large bed-sitting room, a dressing room and a bathroom. Some units have a kitchen and a veranda. There is a corridor in front of all rooms serving as a passage.
In 1988, a project was formed to provide additional housing for Assembly members. Nayyar Ali Dada was appointed a consultant by the Chief Minister of Punjab, who was responsible for the project. Composed of blocks A and B, the construction was planned for the western lawn of the Assembly building. Block A was designed as a semicircular building, and Block B as a rectangular building. Block A, divided into phases I and II, was originally intended to contain 108 suites.
Construction of phase I of Block A began in 1988, when the foundation stone was laid down by the Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif. This phase was completed in 1992 and the inauguration ceremony was presided over by Manzoor Wattoo, speaker of the Assembly. It consists of a basement, a ground floor, and four residential floors. The ground floor includes a reception area and a lounge for visitors, as well service areas. The four residential floors consist of a total of 36 suites, with nine suites per floor. Each suite consists of one bedroom with an attached bathroom and a kitchen.
The Phase II plan originally called for 72 residential units, but was later revised to include 40 residential suites each consisting of a lounge, a bedroom, an office, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. One bathroom is connected to the lounge and the other to the bedroom.
Article 106 of the constitution provides that each Provincial Assembly shall consist of general seats and seats reserved only for women and non-Muslims. The same article specifies that the Provincial Assembly of Punjab will have a total of 371 seats: 297 general seats, 66 reserved for women, and eight reserved for non-Muslims.
According to Article 113 of the Constitution, the qualifications for membership in the National Assembly set forth in Article 62 of the Constitution also apply for membership to the Provincial Assembly. Thus, a member of the Provincial Assembly:
The disqualifications specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 do not apply to a person who is a non-Muslim, but such a person must have good moral reputation and possess other qualifications prescribed by an act of Parliament.
The criteria for disqualification of members of a Provincial Assembly is established by Articles 63, 63A, 113 and 127. A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Provincial Assembly if the member:
Article 63A, which deals with disqualification on grounds of defection, was added to the Constitution in 1997. A member of a Parliamentary Party composed of a single political party defects if the member:
Article 66 read with Article 127 confers freedom of speech on the members of the Provincial Assembly. No member is liable to any proceedings in any court of law in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Assembly. Similarly no member is liable in respect of any publication which is published under the authority of Provincial Assembly.
However, Article 114 of the Constitution curtails this privilege and prohibits members from discussing conduct of judges of High Court and Supreme Court in the discharge of their duties.
(a) Oath of Members. - After general elections, elected members in the first meeting take oath in the form set out in Third Schedule of the Constitution. Article 65 read with Article 127 states "A person elected to a House shall not sit or vote until he has made before the House oath in the form set out in the Third Schedule". Those members who have not taken oath in the first meeting take oath when they attend a meeting for the first time. The first meeting is presided by the outgoing Speaker. Article 53 (8) read with Article 127 says "the Speaker shall continue in his office till the person elected to fill the office by next Assembly enters upon his office." (b) Election and oath of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. - In addition to oath taking by the members, Provincial Assembly according to Article 108 to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. When office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, in any way, the Assembly elects another member as Speaker or Deputy Speaker.
The elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker according to clause 2 of Article 53 read with Article 127 take oath before the House in the form set out in the Third Schedule.
Article 109 authorizes the Governor of the Province to summon Provincial Assembly to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit. Where the Governor summons Assembly he is authorized to prorogue it too. In addition, the Speaker, on a requisition signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the Provincial Assembly, can summon it, at such time and place as he thinks fit, within fourteen days of the receipt of the requisition. Article 54(3) read with Article 127 also empowers the Speaker to prorogue the session where he summons it.
Article 54 (2) and (3) read with article 127 say there are at least three sessions of Provincial Assembly every year, with not more than 120 days intervening between the last sitting of the Assembly in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session. While clause 'g' of Article 127 read with Proviso to Article 54 provides that Provincial Assembly shall meet for not less than 100 working days in each year.
The term of Provincial Assembly in Pakistan according to Article 107 is five years unless it is sooner dissolved, from the day of its first meeting and stands dissolved at the expiration of its terms.
(a) Dissolution of Provincial Assembly on the advice by the Chief Minister. - Under Article 112, clause 1, the Governor of a Province is empowered to dissolve Provincial Assembly if so advised by the Chief Minister. Where the Chief Minister so advises, the Provincial Assembly stands dissolved at the expiration of 48 hours. (b) Dissolution of Provincial Assembly by the Governor on the approval by the President. - Clause 2 of the same Article again empowers the Governor to dissolve Provincial Assembly subject to the approval of the President, where he is of the opinion, that after having been passed a vote of no confidence against the Chief Minister, there is no other member of the Provincial Assembly to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Provincial Assembly, in a session of the Provincial Assembly summoned for the purpose.
Executive Authority is exercised by the Governor and under Article 105, he shall act in accordance with advice of the cabinet or the Chief Minister.
According to clause 2-A of Article 130, the Governor of a Province invites the member of the Provincial Assembly to be the Chief Minister who commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the Provincial Assembly as ascertained in the session of the Assembly summoned for the purpose in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
There are three major functions or powers of a Provincial Assembly:
One of the major functions of the Provincial Assembly is to make laws as provided in Article 141 of the Constitution for conferring of functions upon officers or authorities subordinate to the Provincial Governments, Constitutionally. This function is subject to some limitations.
By virtue of Article 142, the Provincial Assembly cannot legislate on matters which do not fall within its purview. However, under the same article, the Provincial Assembly can legislate on matters mentioned in Concurrent Legislative List. But where parliament makes a law in Concurrent Legislative List, and Provincial Assembly also legislates on it, the Provincial law will be void to the extent that it conflicts with the Federal law.
The Provincial Assembly has exclusive powers to make law with respect to any matter not enumerated either in the Federal Legislative List or in the Concurrent Legislative List. Such list is called a Residuary List. Residuary matters are exclusively within Provincial autonomy. From the above, it cannot be extracted that the Province is subordinate to the Federation or Federation is subordinate to Province. In fact, legislative powers are distributed between Federation and Provinces vide Article 142. And one institution cannot take over powers of other institution. However, this provincial law making power comes to an end and shifts to the Federation during emergency when declared vide Articles 232, 233 or 234.
The second important function of Provincial Assembly under Article 123 (3) is that it acts as a manager or custodian of the purse of a nation.
No expenditure from the Provincial Consolidated Fund is deemed to be duly authorised unless it is specified in the schedule so authenticated and is laid before the Provincial Assembly. Provincial Assembly exercises checks over executive through control over the Finance. Article 119 provides custody and withdrawal of money from Provincial Consolidated Fund, (defined in Article 118) and public accounts of a Province, unless it is regulated by the Act of the Provincial Assembly.
Provisions given under Article 120 dealing with annual budget statement and Article 124 dealing with supplementary budget or excess grant become effective, when it is approved by the Provincial Assembly.
Article 122(2) and Article 124 authorise Provincial Assembly to approve or refuse any demand and reduce the amount specified in the demand. Once budget is approved, the Government has no right to deviate from these sanctions. For excess expenditure, Government has to seek regularization from the Assembly. Similarly under Article 88 read with Article 127, accounts and audit reports of the Government are further scrutinized by the public accounts Committee of the Assembly.
The significance of Provincial Assembly is that it is a representative institution and keeps checks upon policies, practices and performance of the Government. Article 130 (4) says that the Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to the Provincial Assembly.
Issues relating to Public interest are raised by the Members for discussion in the House in the form of questions, adjournment motions, call attention notices, general discussion, resolutions and various Reports.
The Members make the Executive accountable to the legislature through these devices according to the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997.
This programme is meant to serve Members of the Provincial Assembly in different areas. They are provided legislative help in drafting private members bills. They are provided useful and informative books. An Internet facility is also available to them, and through Internet research they can polish their ideas.
To provide these facilities to the Members, in 1997 the Research and Reference Division was formed. It was established to provide information to the Members when needed, and to collect up-to-date information from the resources available. The Library and Computer Sections were included in this division. It was also meant to provide help to the representatives in legislative procedures, such as the drafting of a bill. Prior to the establishment of the Research and Reference Wing, this service was performed by the Legislation Branch. Salman Said
The primary function of Library Section is to provide data to the Members and to the Research Section. Information such as the Assembly's agenda, date of next sitting, schedule of committee meetings and information about Members is available due to installation of the latest PBX. The Assembly Secretariat has stored vital information in the computer and it is accessible from anywhere around the clock.
Moreover, Research and Reference Division has designed a web page to provide information to the Members about the Assembly Secretariat and proceedings of the Assembly including its schedule and agenda, and a summary of its proceedings. This web page also includes the procedural rules for the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab and some other important laws of the country.
The current members of the Assembly, split by party, are:
| Party | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) | 171 | |
| Pakistan Peoples Party | 106 | |
| Unification Block | 47 | |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 34 | |
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) | 3 | |
| Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal | 2 | |
| Pakistan Muslim League (Zia) | 1 | |
| Independent | 6 | |
| Total | 370 | |
| Source: [2] | ||